June 24, 1010] 



SCIENCE 



975 



college, at the best a force operating at a 

 distance, at the worst a power acting for 

 needs it can not know. The college, as far 

 as the high school was concerned, always 

 had the idea of preparation, not growth, 

 in mind. A thousand boys went through 

 a course in chemistry whose nature was 

 determined solely by the needs of the three 

 or four who were to be trained to be ex- 

 pert chemists. It is often said at this point 

 that the course which best prepares the 

 pupil for advanced work is also best for 

 every other boy. It is nearer the truth to 

 say that the education which best meets 

 the needs of the growing member of the 

 human whole ought to be the best prepara- 

 tion for college. 



Chemistry earlier in the course and per- 

 haps a second year of it; the first of these 

 conditions may bring dismay to many 

 teachers ; the second, delight to all, surely. 

 Certainly some changes in the traditional 

 course are necessary in teaching chemistry 

 in the second year. On this point the 

 speaker can refer to an experience cov- 

 ering nearly seven years. During all 

 that time chemistry has been taught to 

 some second-year students. At times 

 fourth-year students and second-year stu- 

 dents have been taking nearly the same 

 course simultaneously in separate classes; 

 at other times the two terms of students 

 have been mixed in the same class. In 

 both eases a certain degree of success with 

 the second-year students has been obtained, 

 even if we judge by no other standards 

 than results of college entrance and state 

 board examinations. Speaking for the 

 moment from the standpoint of the college 

 entrance syllabus, but little change is neces- 

 sary to adapt the chemistry to second-year 

 students. A less rigorous insistence on 

 the philosophical development of the atomic 

 and other hypotheses seems to be the most 

 necessary item of change. In any case, as 



far as the ability of the student to compre- 

 hend is concerned, the difference between 

 individuals is much greater than the differ- 

 ence between second- and fourth-year 

 classes. The general average of work is 

 considerably better in fourth-year classes, 

 but this is explained largely by the drop- 

 ping out of weak material. 



To meet the demand for practical educa- 

 tion, we find that there is a decided tend- 

 ency to introduce into the high school a 

 great deal more of chemical technology 

 than there was in the older course. There 

 are some who go so far as to say that the 

 high school ought to give the pupil a means 

 of earning his living ; that chemistry should 

 be taught so as to fit him for some direct 

 employment in practical occupations. 

 While admitting this as a possible ideal, 

 the view implies such an extreme change 

 in the character of the high school that it 

 is not advisable to take it into considera- 

 tion in the present discussion, except to 

 admit that, given time, it would be possible 

 to accomplish this result. Along with the 

 demand for technical education, we find a 

 tendency to fill the course with a great deal 

 of matter that is associated with the home 

 and every-day life. These two demands 

 have come largely from without. They 

 have done great good and have added much 

 to the human interest of our science. We 

 teachers are very prone to an academic 

 point of view, and the stimulus has been a 

 needed one. Yet with the good, there is 

 some danger. There is a tendency in some 

 quarters to emphasize the technological de- 

 tails of processes, to fill the discussion with 

 technical terms, so that the pupils' talk 

 bristles with tuyeres and downeomers and 

 the particular names of the many towers 

 that find application in manufacturing 

 chemistry. The chief evil of this kind of 

 instruction is that it produces rather showy 

 results, it seems to indicate more knowledge 



